Tide after UT on water

OAK RIDGE - While Tennessee and Alabama competed at Neyland Stadium Saturday night, the two schools also battled on the water.

Their teams were among the hundreds of varsity and club rowers participating in the 33rd annual Head of the Tennessee Regatta, held all day Saturday at Melton Hill Lake.

Just as in football, a rivalry exists between the two schools in women's rowing, but for a different reason - they are the only two SEC schools with varsity teams.

While Tennessee under coach Lisa Glenn has had respectable finishes in the NCAA championships in recent years, Alabama is just in its third year as a school-sponsored varsity team.

"They are really an established program," Alabama coach Larry Davis said Saturday morning, as his first rowers were getting ready to compete. "Our goal is to get there and pass them. They have done a great job with the program and we are hoping to catch up."

Like Tennessee, the Alabama rowing team has an intense workout regimen that would make a Bear Bryant or Gen. Robert Neyland proud.

According to varsity Crimson Tide rower Katie Smith, the squad practices on the Black Warrior River six days a week beginning at 5:45 a.m.

The team also lifts weights three days a week and has individual workouts for about three hours a week.

Despite the work involved, Smith said she loves rowing.

"It's a really fun sport," she said. "I have never been able to push myself so hard before. And it's a really big trust sport."

From Birmingham, she also loves the Crimson Tide football team and planned to follow Saturday's game.

"Hopefully we can listen to it on the radio on the way home," she said.

Among the more casual rowers taking part was Jennifer Grady from the Oak Ridge Rowing Association.

An Oak Ridge High School and recent Appalachian State graduate, she competed in the women's singles, finishing second out of two competitors.

She still managed to smile afterward.

"Right now I just go out once a week," she said.

A former competitive rower in high school, she is not sure if she wants to get back into serious competition.

However, she does plan to continue enjoying the sport.

"It nice just to be able to take a boat out by yourself and get on the water," she said. "It's peaceful."